Second Sunday of Advent: How Do We Anticipate With Joy?
Call To Action's 2022 Advent Calendar, planned and written by the Indigenous Solidarity Collective, provides 27 days of prayer and study to lead into action and solidarity with Indigenous communities. For each Sunday of Advent, we'll publish a reflection from a CTA member on the day's scripture passages, why we're committed to working toward Indigenous solidarity, and what it means to do this work. Following the reflection, we feature a call to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
Second Sunday of Advent: Dec. 4, 2022
When I was a child, Advent was my favorite season. Our small house became a visual delight as my mom unpacked the Christmas decorations. Christmas carols replaced the usual classical music and show tunes. My family lit the Advent candles every night and prayed, “Come Lord Jesus, come quickly!” I said this prayer with excitement, imagining the little baby in a manger who left Heaven to come and be human so I could be better.
It was not until I grew up a bit that I began to understand the dual anticipation of Advent and the complexity of Jesus of Nazareth. Advent invites us to recall the joyful waiting for conception and birth and God coming into our world for the very first time. It also asks us to look to the future and prepare for the return of our savior and the renewal of our world.
The historical Jesus invited people to follow and learn and choose. Jesus also challenged the status quo and confronted the brokenness of governmental, economic, and religious systems. He called for justice and mercy.
In today’s readings, these dimensions and complexities come to life. Isaiah prophesies of a time to come when a “shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse.” There will be judgment and redemption. The world and all that is in it will be transformed beyond belief until “there shall be no harm or ruin on all [God’s] holy mountain.” In Matthew’s Gospel, John the Baptist, baptizing with water, warns us that “the one who is coming” will both gather the harvest and burn the chaff. He will cut down and burn every tree that does not bear good fruit.
The missionaries carried these same scriptures with them when they came to the Americas. They lived the liturgical cycle. They knew the dual anticipation of Advent. While some of the priests introduced Christian ideas in a way that highlighted similarities with indigenous beliefs, most of them did not.
What followed were centuries of physical, territorial, and cultural genocide committed in the name of Christ. While striving to civilize the “savage,” these men failed to see the savagery in themselves. They produced toxic fruit, and the legacy of harm remains for us today. Indigenous languages and identities are lost. Indigenous families live in poverty. Indigenous children are adopted outside of their familial tribes.
So how do we anticipate with joy knowing that so many of our neighbors continue to be hurt?
The challenge resonates through history, calling generations of Catholics to repent, reform, and renew. It is our turn to choose.
We must embrace the challenge to be the hands and feet of Christ in our broken world. Using the spiritual gifts given to us at baptism and confirmation, we act to reform and renew the systems that continue to oppress Indigenous peoples in the Americas. In doing this we prepare a way for the LORD and can joyfully pray, “Come Lord Jesus, come quickly!”
Further Reading
The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition has an extensive list of recommended books that center the voices of Indigenous Americans and First Nations people.
"Indigenous languages make inroads into public schools" from Salon.com.
"The Role of Culture in Culturally Compatible Education" from the Journal of American Indian Education.
"The Effects of the No Child Left Behind Act on Language and Culture Education in Navajo Public Schools" from the Journal of American Indian Education.
The watercolor paintings featured on this calendar were created by Duane Yazzie, an artist of Hopi and Navajo ancestry. Yazzie creates artwork that reflects his Indigenous heritage and his childhood spent in the Southwest.
The 2022 Advent Calendar is a project of CTA's Indigenous Solidarity Collective, a working group that addresses the Catholic Church's historical and current role in colonialization. To support more projects from working groups like this one, please consider making a contribution.
